What you need to know about health insurance and Oct. 1

UPDATED (September 25, 2013): This piece from my colleague, Lora Hines, offers at glimpse at the insurance rates available through the Texas marketplace.

“Residents of the Houston area and Texas will have dozens of insurance plans from which to choose when marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act open Tuesday – with the average monthly premium costing as little as $52 for a family of four.

Marketplace plans will be categorized as gold, silver and bronze, based on premium and out-of-pocket costs. The lower the premium cost, the higher the out-of-pocket expense will be for consumers.

According to the report [released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services], 46 plans will be available in the Houston area. Statewide, residents will have 54 plans from which to choose. To put premiums into perspective, the weighted average was $305 per month for Texas’ second-lowest-cost silver plan, to $211 per month for the state’s lowest-cost bronze plan before tax credits would be applied, the report shows.”

Nearly 5 million uninsured Texans, including almost 1 million in Harris County, are expected to have access to affordable health insurance next month.

Those folks will need to be thinking like patients and like consumers.

Oct. 1 — one week from Tuesday — is the day enrollment opens for state-based Health Insurance Marketplaces — also called “exchanges” — under the Affordable Care Act, which is known as the ACA and “Obamacare.” (The next phase of health reform was the subject of this week’s Advocate column.)

Open enrollment last six months, through March 31.

Roughly 1 in 4 Texans is uninsured. According to federal government estimates, about 4.8 million state residents will be eligible to shop for insurance in the exchange. Harris County, with an uninsured rate of 25 percent, leads the nation in the number of people without health coverage and at least 825,532 will be eligible for insurance through the marketplace.

Those folks will need to consider the health needs of themselves and their families when choosing policies. They should also try to avoid shysters who are surely licking their chops for a fresh opportunity to hoodwink uninformed or vulnerable consumers.

To have insurance on Jan. 1, when coverage begins, the deadline to sign up is Dec. 15.

Leaders of the land with the country’s highest uninsured rate decided against a state-run marketplace, so the feds are operating the Texas exchange.

Here are some resources to help Texas consumers be ready and knowledgeable on Oct. 1: